Exploring the World of Textures

I search for the realness, the real feeling of a subject, all the texture around it... I always want to see the third dimension of something... I want to come alive with the object.

— Andrew Wyeth

For week 35 I decided to explore a texture technique that I recently learned for work with fellow photographer Vicki Santello. Vicki is not only an amazingly talented photographer, but has been a wonderful person to work with over the past (almost) three years. It has been a joy to learn together and grow as photographers together. Oddly enough our styles differ drastically! Whereas I tend to focus on abstracts in reality, Vicki travels the world in search of epic, once in a lifetime moments in nature. You'll see what I mean if you visit her website.

She learned this technique on a recent photo trip to Japan with another amazing photographer Denise Ippolito. Denise has more of a painterly approach to photography often creating ethereal wildlife scenes and breathtaking landscapes. I won't go too into the details of the technique, but you can read about her process, which she graciously shares here. Basically the technique allows you to replace the background of an image with a textured background. The technique involves painting over sections of the image you wish to cover with the texture layer, and uses blend modes to bring the two together. It's a pretty amazing process! Naturally it needed to be incorporated into the 365 Project.

I have to admit that this week's edits were tedious. The digital painting process can be time consuming if you want to get the details right. I don't have any fancy pen tablets to make the brush work flow more naturally. I only have a trackpad on my Macbook Pro. It was easy to get lost in the process and some of these edits took over an hour to complete. There were times where I wasn't sure where I was headed. Sometimes it felt as though something was missing. Other times the colors or textures weren't flowing right. In some instances I avoided the painting process altogether. Ultimately I was able to work through the hurdles and create some interesting imagery.

When thinking about what textures to use I wondered if it was possible to make my own textures. I did a little researching and discovered it was pretty straightforward (and fun!) to make textures. I ended up making seven unique textures because there were too many what ifs. It was a nice way to bring in my own style to the picture. Here are the seven textures.

Now for the edits.

#239 is soft in color and reminiscent of an abstract painting.

#240 reminds me of a heavy downpour of rain at night.

#241 is psychedelic.

#242 reminds me of the Bride of Frankenstein with that wavy hair split in two. Her and Frankenstein are leaning in for a kiss.

#243 is dancing fog on the water.

#244 is a fiery sun.

#245 is fire burning from behind. You can see the paper crinkling away from the flames.

The texture technique felt like a huge success. Some of the edits are so textured it makes you want to reach in and touch them. The varied imagery serves to transport the viewer to different worlds. What do you see or feel from all the imagery? Share your thoughts in the comments below.